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Microfiche 

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CHIEF-JUSTIGE  CH ARpS  MORRIS 


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CHARLES    3.    MCINTIRE 

A   p«»CiM)AllT 

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SKETCH    OF   THE    LIFE 


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Honorable  John   Read 


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ALSO     OF 


CHIEF-JUSTICE  CHARLES  MORRIS 

1 7 1 1  - 1 78 1 


PREPARED     BY 

CHARLES    J.    MCINTIRE 

A     DESCENDANT 

For  "Publication  No.  4"  of  the  Mass.  Soc.  of  Colonial  Wars 


CAMBRIDGE 

I  898 

[FOR    PRIVATE    CIRCULATION] 


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THE    HONORABLE   JOHN    READ. 


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THE    HONORABLE    JOHN    READ. 


BY    CHARLES   J.    M»  INTIRE. 


John  Read,  of  Boston,  Attorney-General  of  the  Province,  was 
one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  and  distinguished  citizens  that 
New  England  ever  produced.  He  was  a  scholar,  a  wit  and 
orator,  and  a  jurist,  possessed  of  broad  views,  extensive  acquire- 
ments, and  vigor  of  intellect ;  but,  although  chief  among  the 
wise,  witty,  and  eloquent,  little  has  been  written  of  him  aside 
from  the  many  anecdotes  bearing  testimony  to  his  learning  and 
sagacity,  his  witticisms  and  eccentricities.  It  was  said  of  him 
by  John  Adams  that  "  he  had  as  great  a  genius  and  became  as 
eminent  as  any  man. '  And  he  styled  him  at  another  time  as 
"that  great  Gamaliel." 

Elliott,  in  his  Biographical  Dictionary,  relates  that  "  Mr.  Read 
was  a  gentleman  of  very  brilliant  talents,  of  sterling  integrity,  a 
friend  of  the  people,  of  the  laws,  and  of  government.  For  his 
superior  abilities  he  was  considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  lawyers 
in  this  country.  The  succeeding  generation  indulged  a  pride  in 
quoting  his  legal  opinions  and  sayings  in  common  conversation. 
.  .  .  While  he  sat  at  that  board  [the  Governor's  Council]  he 
was  their  oracle,  and  was  eminently  useful  to  the  country." 

Hutchinson  regarded  him  as  a  "  very  eminent  lawyer,  and, 
which  is  more,  a  person  of  great  integrity  and  firmness  of  mind." 
Knapp  adds  that  "  as  a  legislator  he  was  conspicuous,  but  so 
unambitious  a  man  could  not  have  been  a  regular  leader.  He 
was  too  independent  and  enlightened  for  a  lover  of  prerogative, 
and  too  honest  for  a  leader  of  faction ;  he  spoke  with  frankness, 
regardless  of  political  consequences.  A  great  man  who  con- 
descends to  enter  into  the  politics  of  the  day,  and  bear  the  heat 


and  burden  of  it,  owes  nothing  to  the  public  for  his  honors ;  but 
the  public  are  much  indebted  to  him  for  his  exertions." 

Both  Mr.  Quincy  and  James  Otis  contribute  to  his  fame,  the 
one  by  designating  him,  in  his  history  of  Harvard  College,  as 
"  one  of  the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  that  period  in  New  Eng- 
land ;  "  and  the  other  by  stating  that  "  he  was  the  greatest 
common  lawyer  this  country  ever  saw."  He  was  born  in  Con- 
necticut Feb.  14,  1680,  and  in  the  history  of  the  Read  families 
is  stated  to  be  the  son  of  Samuel  Read,  of  Mendon,  Mass., 
and  his  wife  Hopestill  Holbrook,  and  a  grandson  of  John 
Read,  who  came  with  the  great  fleet  in  1 630,  and  in  1 643  or  4 
went  to  Rehoboth.  Mr.  George  B.  Reed,  in  his  excellent 
sketch  of  the  life  of  John  Read,  published  in  1879,  to  which  I 
am  indebted  for  many  facts,  says  that  he  may  have  been  a 
descendant  of  John  Read,  of  Rehoboth,  or  of  the  family  of  the 
second  wife  of  Governor  Winthrop,  of  Connecticut,  who  was  a 
Read.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  graduated  from  Harvard 
College,  and  began  at  once  to  prepare  himself  for  the  ministry. 
He  preached  at  Waterbury,  East  Hartford,  and  Stratford,  Conn., 
from  1698  to  1706.  Having  been  drawn  unwillingly  into 
law-suits  concerning  his  title  to  certain  lands,  and  becoming 
thereby  interested  in  the  science  of  the  law,  he  concluded  to 
devote  himself  to  its  knowledge  and  practice.  Accordingly, 
after  a  period  of  about  two  years'  study,  he  was  admitted  to 
practice  at  the  bar  on  Oct.  6,  1 708,  His  superior  abilities  soon 
attracted  attention  and  clients.  He  rose  rapidly  in  his  profes- 
sion, and  in  May,  171 2,  was  made  Queen's  Attorney  for  the 
colony,  which  office  he  held  for  several  years.  In  the  "  Con- 
necticut Colonial  Records"  we  find  frequent  mention  of  him  in 
connection  with  law-suits  in  the  courts,  and  important  matters 
before  the  General  Assembly.  In  17 14  he  settled  at  Lonetown, 
upon  a  tract  which  he  purchased  of  the  Indians,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  reside  until  1721,  during  the  remainder  of  his  stay  in 
Connecticut.  That  colony  secured  his  services  in  1719,  as  one 
of  her  commissioners  on  the  disputed  boundary  line  of  New 
York ;  and  also  in  1720,  as  her  sole  representative  to  meet  the 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire  commis- 
sioners, and  with  them  to  consider  how  to  recover  and  support 


the  credit  of  the  paper  bills  then  in  circulation  as  money. 
Upon  this  matter  he  drew  up  and  submitted  an  interesting 
report,  showing  how  the  value  of  such  money  might  be  sus- 
tained. 

At  about  twenty  years  of  age  he  had  married  Ruth  Talcot,  the 
sister  of  Gov.  Joseph  Talcot,  and  daughter  of  Lieut.-Col.  John 
Talcot,  who  commanded  the  Connecticut  forces  in  King  Philip's 
war.  In  1 721,  when  he  had  reached  his  full  vigor,  he  looked 
for  broader  fields  in  which  to  exercise  his  talents,  and  upon 
receiving  encouragement  from  influential  citizens  of  Boston, 
he  removed  there  enrly  during  the  year. 

Within  a  very  short  time  after  taking  up  his  new  abode,  the 
House  of  Representatives  elected  him  attorney-general,  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  Thomas  Newton  on  '  •  v  28  ;  but 
Governor  Shute  negatived  the  vote,  partly,  perhaos,  for  the 
reason  that  Read  had  so  recently  become  a  resident,  but  more 
particularly  because  of  his  opinion  that  it  w.^s  the  Governor's 
prero^a'v  i  to  appoint  such  officer.  The  position,  therefore, 
remained  vacant  during  that  year. 

On  Dec.  12, 1 722,  Mr.  Read  purchased  a  residence  upon  Han- 
over street,  near  the  present  location  of  the  American  House. 
A  large  and  lucrative  practice  had  awaited  him  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  he  seemed  to  have  hi  choice  of  clients.  The  town 
of  Boston  secured  his  services  in  many  matters  wherein  its 
inhabitants  were  interested,  and  the  province  likewise  retained 
him  in  its  controversies  with  New  Hampshire  and  Rhode  Island 
as  to  the  proper  boundaries.  Connecticut,  moreover,  continued 
to  employ  him  to  represent  her  in  her  diflTerences  with  Rhode 
Island  and  New  York. 

In  1722  John  Overing  was  chosen  attorney -general,  and  in 

1723  Read  was  again  elected,  and   this  time  confirmed.     In 

1724  he  was  once  more  elected,  but  Lieutenant-Governor  Dum- 
mer,  who  held  the  same  opinion  as  did  Governor  Shute  regard- 
ing the  exclusive  right  of  the  Executive,  under  the  charter,  to 
make  the  appointment,  having  been  reenforced  by  similar  opin- 
ions expressed  the  previous  year  by  the  attorney-general  and  the 
solicitor-general  of  England,  submitted  his  opinion  in  writing  to 
the  Council.    The  Council  advised  him  that  the  election  was  in 


accordance  with  the  charter  and  practice,  but  Dummer  with- 
held consent. 

In  1725,  1726,  and  1727  Read  was  elected  and  duly  con- 
firmed each  year. 

The  people  of  Boston  elected  him  to  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives on  May  10,  1738,  and  he  became  thus  the  first  lawyer 
who  was  ever  chosen  a  member  of  the  General  Court.  It  was 
in  this  year  that  he  conveyed  his  estate  on  Hanover  street  to 
his  son  William,  and  removed  to'  his  new  mansion  on  Queen 
street,  now  Court.  His  grounds  there  covered  the  entire  square 
bounded  by  Cornhill,  Court  and  Washington  streets. 

In  1 741  and  1742  he  was  sent  to  the  Governor's  Council, 
and  was  recognized  at  once    as  the   ablest   member   of    that 

Board. 

Among  the  members  of  the  bar  John  Read  was  renowned  as  a 
special  pleader  in  the  days  when  special  pleading  was  a  science, 
and  many  tales  are  told  of  his  efficiency.  He  took  upon  him- 
self the  responsibility  of  reducing  the  obscure  and  redundant 
phraseology  of  the  English  deeds  of  conveyance  to  their  present 
simple  forms.  Knapp  tells  us  that  his  influence  and  authority 
must  have  been  great,  as  a  lawyer,  to  have  brought  his  re- 
trenched forms  into  general  use  ;  and,  further,  that  the  declara- 
tions which  he  made  and  used  in  civil  actions  have  many  of  them 
come  down  to  us  as  precedents,  and  are  among  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  special  pleading  which  can  be  found.  Both  Story  and 
Parsons  have  also  commended  his  pleadings  in  the  highest  of 

terms. 

His  family  consisted  of  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  Col. 
John  Read,  the  eldest,  was  born  in  1700,  and  became  a  man 
of  prominence  in  Connecticut,  where  he  remained  and  died. 
The  younger  son,  William,  was  born  in  17 10;  came  to  Boston 
with  his  father ;  was  a  lawyer ;  appointed  judge  of  the  Admi- 
ralty Court  in  1766;  a  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1770; 
was  one  of  the  five  judges  appointed  by  the  Council  in  1775, 
and  died,  unmarried,  in  1780.  The  daughters  were  Ruth,  who 
married  Rev.  Mr.  Haven,  of  Fairfield,  Conn. ;  Mary,  born  April 
14,  1 716,  married  Capt.  Charles  Morris,  of  Boston,  who  com- 
manded a  company  in  1745  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and  re- 


ii 


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K 


mained  in  Nova  Scotia,  becoming  Councillor,  and  Chief-Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court ;  and  Abigail  and  Deborah. 

Attorney-General  Read  was  a  vestryman  of  King's  Chapel, 
and  he  occupied  pew  No.  i6.  He  died  at  Boston,  Feb.  14, 
1 749,  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine  years,  and  was  buried  in  the  crypt 
of  the  chapel.  Ruth  Read,  his  widow,  died  July  20,  1759, 
aged  eighty-one  years,  and  was  also  buried  in  the  chapel's 
crypt. 


Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  III.,  533,  542. 

Conn.  Archives,  II.,  Doc.  154. 

List  of  Atty.  and  Solic.  Gen.  of  Mass.,  1686-1780. 

Boston  Record  '    im.  Report,  Vols.  XII.  to  XV, 

Washburn  :  "  Judicial  History  of  Mass." 

Hutchinson:  "  History  of  Mass.,"  II.,  336,  note. 

Knapp:  "  Biog.  Sketches." 

P'oote:  "  History  of  King's  Chapel." 


A.  C.  Goodell,  Jr. 


<*\ 


"*■ 


CHIEF-JUSTICE   CHARLES    MORRIS. 


CHIEF-JUSTICE    CHARLES    MORRIS. 


BY  CHARLES   J.    MCINTIRE. 


\ 


The  story   of  Charles    Morris,  who   left   his  New  England 
home  a  soldier,  and  ultimately  became  Privy  Councillor  and 
Chief- Justice  of  Nova  Scotia,  is  instructive  and  interesting.     He 
was  the  sixth  of  a  family  of  nine  children.     His  father,  also  a 
Charles  Morris,  was  bom  in  Bristol,  England,  in  1675,  came  to 
Boston  in  1696,  and  in  1699  married  Esther  Rainsthorpe,  who 
had  been  here  since  1684.    The  Rev.  Charles  Morris,  bom  in 
Wales  in  1650,  was  his  grandfather.    The  subject  of  our  sketch 
was  born  in  Boston  June  11,  1 7 1 1 ,  received  a  good  education, 
and,  like  Washington,  devoted  much  attention  to  the  surveying 
of  lands,  becoming  an  acknowledged  expert  in  such  work  while 
he  was  yet  young.     At  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  married  Mary 
Read,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Read,  of  Boston,  the  eminent 
lawyer  and  attorney-general  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts 

Bay. 

Mr.  Akens,  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Records,  informs  us 
that  when  Govemor  Shirley  was  calling  for  volunteers,  in  1745, 
for  the  expedition  under  Pepperell  against   Louisburg,  Morris 
offered   his  services,  was  given  the  command   of  a  company, 
and  took  active  part  in   the   memorable  siege  and  capture. 
After  the  surrender  of  that  fortress,  by  the  request  of  Governor 
'^'-irley  Captain  Morris  made  a  survey  of  the  whole  of  Nova 
Scotia  with   a  view  to   British  colonization.    This  survey  was 
duly  sent  to  the   "  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations,"  accom- 
panied by  a  concise  account  of  the  state  of  the  province,  a  copy 
of  which  is  still  preserved  among  the  archives  of  Halifax.     In 
the  winter  of  1746-7   Shirley  sent  an  expedition  composed  of 
New  England  soldiers,  commanded  by  Noble,  to  hold  Minas 


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against  the  enemy,  and  the  first  section  under  Captain  Morris 
reached  its  destination  on  December  12.  When  the  whole  force 
had  arrived  and  taken  up  its  quarters  at  Grand  Pr^,  it  did  not 
exceed  in  all  four  hundred  and  seventy  men.  These  men  had 
marched  thirty  leagues  in  eight  days,  in  spite  of  this  inclement 
season,  with  fourteen  days'  provisions  on  their  backs.  They  dis- 
tributed themselves  in  small  bodies  among  the  houses  deserted 
by  the  inhabitants,  not  believing  it  practicable  for  the  enemy 
to  reach  there  during  the  winter ;  but  the  French  Commander 
Coulon,  having  learned  that  they  were  settled  in  quarters  at 
great  distances  from  each  other,  resolved  to  attack  them.  So, 
gathering  recruits  on  the  journey,  to  the  number  of  about  six 
hundred  including  Indians,  he  marched  through  the  woods,  and 
at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  January  31,  o.s., 
surprised  the  New  Englanders,  in  a  blinding  suow-storm,  by 
furious  attacks  upon  them  in  their  scattered  quarters.  Notwith- 
standing this  unexpected  assault  they  bravely  resisted,  but 
Colonel  Noble,  Lieutenants  Lechemere,  Jones,  and  Pickering, 
Ensign  Noble,  and  about  seventy  soldiers  were  killed,  and 
Captain  Doane  with  about  sixty-nine  men  were  wounded  and 
taken  prisoners.  Meanwhile  Captain  Morris  rallied  the  others, 
who  fought  their  way  through  the  enemy  until  they  reached  a 
large  stone  building  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  known  as  the 
guard-house,  which  they  courageously  held.  The  next  day, 
after  an  unsuccessful  sortie  in  the  deep  snow,  upon  an  offer  of 
an  honorable  surrender,  with  leave  to  bear  off  their  arms  and 
colors,  and  six  days'  provisions,  they  capitulated,  marched  out, 
and  were  permitted  to  join  the  force  at  Annapolis.  In  a  letter 
written  from  Boston,  Feb.  18,  1749,  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford, 
Secretary  of  State,  Governor  Shirley  refers  to  a  report  and  plan 
of  survey  of  Captain  Morris,  "  who  commanded  one  of  the  six 
New  England  companies,  an  officer  who  has  distinguished 
himself  ...  by  his  behavior  at  Minas  against  the  enemy." 
When  Louisburg  was  evacuated  by  the  British  in  1749,  after 
the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  Morris  went  to  Chebucto  with 
the  garrison,  and  in  that  year,  together  with  Mr.  Bruce,  the 
military  engineer,  by  the  request  of  Governor  Comwallis  he  laid 
out  the   town  of  Halifax.     He  was,  moreover,  the   author  of 


i 


15 


most  of  the  surveys  of  Nova  Scotia  during  the  first  years  of  the 
settlement. 

He  was  appointed  Surveyor- General  in  1749,  and  held  the 
office  for  thirty-two  years.  On  Dec.  30,  1755,  he  was  created 
Privy  Councillor,  and  continuously  held  that  office  also  down  to 
the  time  of  his  decease.  On  March  5,  1753,  he  was  made 
Justice  of  the  Inferior  Court  of  Common  Pleas;  in  June,  1764,  a 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Chief-Justice  on  April  30, 
1776.  His  son,  grandson,  and  great-grandson  succeeded  him 
in  turn  as  Surveyor-General,  and  his  son  likewise  as  Privy 
Councillor.  Other  positions  of  importance  were  entrusted  to 
the  captain  from  Boston.  In  1748  he  was  one  of  the  officers 
sent  to  Minas  to  put  out  the  embers  of  rebellion  and  dis- 
satisfaction existing  there.  In  1749  he  assisted  Governor 
Shirley  in  preparing  and  recommending  to  the  king  a  general 
plan  of  colonization  and  civil  government  for  Nova  Scotia. 
In  1750  the  Council  made  him  one  of  the  commission  of  two 
to  consider  the  question  of  the  construction  of  a  quay  along 
the  shore  in  front  of  the  town  of  Halifax.  In  1 769  he  was  sent 
as  a  commissioner  to  New  York  to  solicit  emigration  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  to  make  known  the  terms  of  government.  In  con- 
sideration of  his  valuable  services,  one  of  his  sons  was  given  a 
commission  in  the  forty-fifth  regiment  of  regulars.  It  is  pleasant 
to  relate  that  when  the  clamor  began  for  the  expatriation  of  the 
Acadians,  he  opposed  the  scheme,  in  substitution  for  which  he 
officially  recommended  the  colonization  among  them  of  a  number 
of  English  families,  saying  unreservedly  in  his  report,  "  To  re- 
move the  French  inhabitants  would  be  attended  with  very  hazard- 
ous consequences,  and  should  be  avoided  if  possible." 

In  1781,  at  the  close  of  a  long  and  eventful  career,  during 
which  he  continuously  filled  so  many  positions  of  honor  and 
trust,  while  holding  court  at  Windsor  he  was  attacked  with  a 
malignant  carbuncle  which  took  him  off  after  a  brief  illness. 
He  died  as  he  would  wish,  at  his  post  of  duty,  universally 
respected  anc  mourned. 

See  Prize  Essay  on  the  History  of  the  Settlement  of  Halifax,  by  Thos, 
B.  Akens,  Esq.  (Conu.  of  Pub.  Records),  Halifax,  N.S.,  April  18,  1839, 
Chap.  V. : 


i6 


••  Charles  Morris  was  a  Captain  in  the  Provincial  troops  under  Pepper  ell 
at  thesiegeof  Louisbourgin  1745.  He  came  up  to  Halifax  in  1749,  and  was 
appointed  Surveyor-General,  and  afterwards  sworn  in  Councillor  in  1755," 
etc. 

Nova  Scotia  Archives,  ed.  I)y  Thomas  B.  Akens,  D.C.L.,  Conir.  of 
Pub.  Records,  1869,  p.  293,  note. 

Murdock's  Hist,  of  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  H.,  pp.  129,  130,  and  pp.  104 
to  no. 

Shirley's  Memoirs  of  the  Prin.  Transac.  of  the  last  War  between  the 
Eng.  and  French  in  No.  America.     Lond.,  1757,  pp.  87,  88,  89. 

Douglas's  Summary,  1749,  Boston,  pp.  324,  325. 

Prize  Essay,  etc.     Chap.  V.     Chap.  I.,  pp.  8,  16. 

Nova  Scotia  Arch.,  pp.  293,  604,  692. 

Murdock's  Hist.,  Vol.  H.,  pp.  122,   123,   128  to  132,  299,  310,  441, 

53'.  5691  570,  586,  589- 

Haliburton's  Nova  Scotia,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  248,  256,  319. 


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